Great content spurs organic traffic ahead of social media

Our organic traffic at YO! Marketing is more than twice that of social media. That has been true for the past year at YO! Marketing. It wasn’t the case when we first started; social media was our main platform to push our brand name into the public domain. It took time to get organic search to our website. Organic search keeps growing, and it shows that we create content that our target audience is actively searching for. Our experience matches recent research on the increasing role of search over social media for web traffic.

Data shows the shift towards organic traffic

Perhaps one of the most exciting things about digital marketing is the constantly changing environment. Since 2013, social media held the lead as a referrer of web traffic and many said that position was cemented for the next decade.

However, in 2017, there was a significant shift in traffic patterns. The top six search engines drove 34.8% of measured site visits, in comparison to 25.6% for the top 13 social networks. There is now an even stronger shift for web publishers to publish good quality content.

Unsurprisingly, the top search engine in terms of share of visits is still Google. Google accounted for more than 97% of search-referred visits during the second half of 2017.

A recent study from a Demand Gen Report showed that for the majority of B2B marketers, email (59%), search (56%) and websites (51%) are the most effective channels in driving early-stage engagement. Social Media (44%) was somewhat lower on the list. 50% of people said that direct search was the go-to channel for lead generation.

Therefore, it appears that search engines are now being used more to search for content directly. There has never been more important to create relevant content with SEO in mind.

The growing role of great content

The search for relevant content drives online users to websites. Picture this: a visitor lands on your website after searching for cybersecurity training. The crucial factor is whether they find what they need on your website. This is the role of content: To provide relevant information to your target customer in a timely manner.

Content marketing is highly valued in the digital marketing industry. It has grown significantly in the last 5 years. One study reveals that content marketing will be a $300 billion industry by 2019 if investment continues at the same level. This graph shows the increasing interest in content marketing as a search term. Its acceleration is most evident from 2012 onwards.

But how do you create great content?

First, focus on what you are writing about. The aim is to key to make your audience happy by providing content that they want to read. If you do this, you and your business will soon be regarded as authorities in your industry. Before you write, consider:

What makes this story stand out from the rest

How can I give this a positive message or angle

To nail this, you need a content strategy. Ask questions like:

Who is this content for?

What problem am I trying to solve?

Which keywords and phrases do my audience use to find information?

Which topics do I need to cover to create valuable content?

Assessing your content with six simple steps

The idea behind assessing your content is simple: Outline a set of steps for every blog post and tick them off as you go along. The aim is to do every step each time you publish a post to leverage organic traffic sources. Once you have a content strategy that details the topics and a content plan, take the following six steps:

Find a keyword with high SEO potential: You want your audience to be able to search and find your content when they need it. The right keyword will assist in creating content optimised for search engines. Consider using tools such as Mozbar keyword explorer or Google Keyword Planner. It estimates the volume of search traffic for any keyword and offers suggestions.

Research some of your top competitors’ posts for your keyword: Once you have decided on a keyword, head to Google to search for your term. Choose a few of the top 10 ranked posts. Look for similarities and gaps where your content can come out on top and add more value.

Ensure your content motivates action: Create content that contains measurable data to back up your facts, step-by-step guidance and a path to action. After all, if your content helps the reader they are likely to come back for more!

Craft a single call to action (CTA): Keep in mind that each piece of content should have one call to action which reveals a clear next step for your audience to follow. Whether it’s to sign up for your email list or a trial of your product, the key thing is to only have one call to action, as any more will confuse your readers and might cause them not to take any action at all!

Design Compelling Visuals: High-quality visuals help differentiate your content from the competition and provide an opportunity to illustrate complex information in a simple and easy-to-understand visual. Tools like Canva are extremely useful – you don’t need to be a graphic designer!

I’m an engineer turned strategic marketer. After 12 years of working with Fortune 500 companies like Schlumberger and GE, I launched YO! Marketing in 2016. My focus is use content strategy and content writing to generate sales leads and engagement for knowledge-intensive companies e.g. IT, Engineering, Manufacturing, Software and Oil & Gas.